The purpose-built ERP Suites for Micro-industries
Considering Infor as a potential solution? We can help evaluate and implement
Why Infor?
Quicker Implementations with Higher ROI for Pure-play Micro-industries
Infor is the 3rd largest enterprise software company with the largest market share in the manufacturing and Industrial ERP industries. With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor specializes in Industry-specific CloudSuite solutions for specific discreet and process manufacturing verticals. With its roots and exclusive focus on manufacturing.
Micro-industry Expertise
Unlike other vendors, Infor takes a unique approach to its products. Their products provide deep industry functionality out-of-the-box for micro-industries such as automotive, electronics manufacturing, building materials, and packaging manufacturers.
Enterprise System Federation
Infor products’ architecture supports the needs of a complex enterprise, whether you use Infor or non-Infor products. Infor products come bundled with an enterprise federation platform that can easily integrate all your products through one platform and allow you to access them all through the same app switcher.
Embedded Analytics
Infor products bundle Birst as part of the product suite. Other ERP products would require you to purchase the license of similar products such as Power BI or Tableau separately. Not only do you get two products for the price of one, but you can also build interactive dashboards and reports using it.
Uniquely Collaborative
Imagine collaborating with your colleagues on a Facebook-like platform as your order moves from your sales order to manufacturing and then to finance while also responding to customer inquiries through the same platform. All Infor products provide the “glue” called Ming.le, which takes collaboration to a whole new level.
Quicker Implementations with Higher ROI
Deep industry functionality reduces the need for building custom functionality required in other generalized ERP systems. Without the need for such custom functionality, Infor provides faster implementations with higher ROI.
Underlying Products Different for Each Industry
While most other ERP vendors might offer industry editions, Infor products have completely different architecture and technology for each of the products. This might be a challenge with data migration as companies outgrow different Infor products.
Want to learn more about why independent ERP consultants have a higher success rate with Infor ERP implementation?
Infor Pros
This is where Infor really shines
Infor’s primary strength includes the deep industry functionality owned by Infor. Infor products are purpose-built for specific industries for which their competitors would require several add-ons. The majority of Infor products are positioned for the SMB market with some in the upper-mid segment. Infor is strong in manufacturing and industrial verticals. They are also strong in some niche industries such as fashion.
Pure-play Business Models
Most of the Infor products are designed for pure-play business models such as Automotive OEMs, Honda Tier 1 and Tier 2 Suppliers, Aerospace and Defense Equipment Manufacturers, Industrial Distributors, Fashion, Food, and Beverage, and Chemicals industries. Their products will struggle with businesses that might have diversified business models or maybe acquiring businesses that might have different operational workflows or products different from the parent company.
Pre-integrated Add-ons Through Infor OS
Most Infor products are integrated through the Infor OS layer such as Infor Factory track, Infor WMS, and Infor Nexus. This helps SMB companies avoid financial and integration risks with competitors that might not offer pre-baked integration. The Infor OS is also included with the subscription. So companies don’t have an extra licensing fee for the integration tools.
Products Highly Customizable
Infor products are highly customizable with the ability to write new stored procedures or create new tables on top of the core platform. Their products also expose the entire .Net framework to customize UI. The .Net framework may be intuitive for developers who have a background in Windows-based development.
Pricing
Infor’s pricing is straightforward with just one pricing option for the entire functionality. They also have limited users if the users are only going to be using limited functionality. Infor pricing is also cheaper compared to other larger vendors such as SAP or Oracle for comparable functionality.
Training Instances Provided as Part of the Subscription
Infor offers training instances as part of the subscription when their competitors might charge up to $20K per year for each additional instance. The additional test instances through Infor are cheaper as well. This is especially helpful for companies that might be planning to customize the ERP system heavily.
Infor Support
Infor’s support is one of the most responsive and best in the ERP industry compared to other vendors The support staff typically responds within a few hours with an option to escalate the ticket and an ability to get a faster response for higher priority tickets. This is in addition to what you might get from your consulting company.
Excel Compatibility
Infor products are highly compatible with Excel with an ability to import and export data from each screen without leaving the screen. They also offer several add-ons with most products that can make the live connection with the product for quick financial analysis and saving reports in your desired format without worrying about the complex data integrity rules inside their products.
Multi-entity Functionality
Infor products are designed with global manufacturing and distribution companies in mind. They offer deep multi-entity functionality with localization for specific countries along with deeper exchanges of inventory among sites and entities.
Niche Industry Functionality
Infor has very deep functionality for certain industries such as fashion and apparel, aerospace, Honda OEMs, chemical, industrial distributors, and F&B.
Have a follow-up question on Infor’s core strengths?
Diverse Business Models
Infor products offer deep functionality for pure-play industries. But they might struggle with industries where the business model might be equally deep in multiple industries. For example, manufacturing and construction; manufacturing and architecture; or manufacturing and distribution. Since other products can host multiple editions with the same product, they can offer the same support to multiple industries and business models with equal depth.
Infor Cons
This is where Infor struggles
Infor’s primary weakness is that its products are designed for pure-play industries. The companies that might have multiple business models such as manufacturing and distribution or manufacturing and construction might struggle in finding products that might be equally good for both industries. Also, each of the Infor products uses a different underlying technology. And because of this reason, there is no clear migration path among product lines.
Issues with Infor OS
While Infor products are pre-integrated, our customers have reported issues with Infor OS with unpredictable errors and performance implications at higher transaction volumes. While Infor OS is great to isolate the clunky Infor technologies, they are not the best fit to create your entire architecture on Infor OS.
Quality of Development and Documentation
Since Infor has acquired these products from many companies, the documentation may vary across product lines. And sometimes the documentation may be non-existing. Even the Infor support teams might struggle to support because of the lack of available documentation.
Poor Roadmap Management
Infor’s current distribution model doesn’t provide control over updates. Most public cloud products need to be updated right away. And the roadmap is rarely published publicly without a release process. Companies that might customize Infor products heavily might struggle with the uncontrolled nature of updates and roadmap management.
Ecosystem and Products Harder to Learn
Infor products have unique workflows that were designed from the perspective of desktop and legacy processes. For instance, the features such as F4 to search for the form and edit and update on the same screen. This experience may have been intuitive in the desktop environment but not as intuitive for the cloud world.
Underlying Technology and Outdated UI
Infor OS can provide a great isolation layer to hide the legacy details of technologies. Most Infor products have substantial limitations that might be obvious with cloud-native products such as universal search, the ability to open multiple tabs, and native mobile apps for most screens.
Loose Financial and Operational Controls Enforced Through Data Model
The data model provides flexibility in modifying fields and screens as you like. But that might be at the expense of the controls enforced. The tighter data model of other products may provide superior financial and operational control of data.
Inconsistent Experience Across Modules and Products
Their products have several modules that might feel like an aggregation of several siloed products. And these products have not been architected for a cloud-native experience. So users might feel an inconsistent experience as they move from screen to screen. Or module to module.
Not Cloud-native and Inferior Mobile Experience
While the Infor products are offered through a cloud distribution model, the products have not been rearchitected using the cloud-native technology. And because of these issues, the cloud experience may be inferior and may be harder to enable on mobile.
Have a follow-up question on Infor’s primary weaknesses?
Our Infor Videos and Reviews
Manufacturing Playlist
We help select And Implement
Infor Products
Infor has many different products targeted for several specific micro-verticals targeted across industries such as distribution, manufacturing, fashion, healthcare, and hospitality. They have rearchitected some products such as Infor LN, Infor M3, Infor Syteline, Infor SX.e, and Infor S3. The other products are not on their radar to modernize for the cloud. But they still sell and support them. There is a very high chance that Infor may end up sunsetting or not supporting these products with no clear roadmap for cloud.
Infor LN (Baan)
Infor LN is a product targeted at larger, global manufacturing organizations. It has deep capabilities for companies manufacturing complex products with longer lead times of months. It also has extremely deep operational functionality for manufacturers in the Honda ecosystem.
Infor CloudSuite Industrial (Syteline)
Infor CloudSuite Industrial (Syteline) product is targeted at SMBs in the manufacturing space with complex BOMs but with shorter lead times. Infor CloudSuite Industrial product is especially suitable for automotive OEMs or OEMs with several layers of BOMs and a large number of SKUs.
Infor Visual
Infor Visual is a legacy system that has not been rearchitected for the cloud but offers strong functionality for custom manufacturing industries that might not create part numbers for the engineer-to-order-centric industries.
Infor M3
Infor M3 is a unique product that has niche functionality for certain industries such as fashion, apparel, chemicals, equipment rental, and food and beverage. It has pre-baked integration with apparel-centric PLM and supports style and PLU-based planning, costing, pricing, and replenishment processes natively.
Infor CloudSuite S3 (Lawson)
Infor S3 has unique capabilities for hospital and healthcare verticals such as Cloverleaf/Clinical Bridge integration that streamlines the exchange of clinical data to help improve healthcare outcomes. It also offers integration for some other niche industries such as utility services and franchise management for the services industries.
Infor Nexus
Infor Nexus is a business network for Supply Chain orchestration and optimization. It allows connecting businesses across Supply Chain for enhanced visibility, supplier collaboration, freight spend management, and multi-leg and multimode planning.
Infor CloudSuite SX.e
Infor SX.e is a product with deep capabilities and pre-baked integration in the B2B industrial space. It has capabilities such as rebates, procurement workflow tailored for the industrial distribution industry, and shopping list functionality built as part of the product.
Infor SunSystems
Infor SunSystem offers deep accounting and financial functionality for certain industries such as hospitality and franchise-based businesses. These businesses might require integration with a hospitality-centric system for operational workflow.
Our Infor Services
We are your one-stop shop for all your Infor ERP needs, whether you need assistance in evaluating Infor’s capabilities, implementing it as per your business requirements, or extending its capabilities.
Infor Purchase Assistance
We have end-to-end capabilities to support your needs for the demo, price quote, or help you compare Infor products with any other ERP systems.
Infor Change And ERP Project Management
We take a very pragmatic iterative approach to change management of Infor projects. Besides involving users from day one through hands-on exercises, we also play in role in managing the expectations of top management. This helps ensure that the right party is involved at the right time during the selection and implementation phase.
Infor ERP Implementation
Not only we can help with selecting the right Infor products, we have end-to-end capabilities to implement Infor for your business.
Infor End User Training
Our implementation services include training your business users on Infor products. We conduct group or individual training in the on-site and virtual settings. We also have capabilities to create a customized video library or learning management system, along with maintaining it over time as the software changes.
Infor Project Rescue, Recovery, And Optimization
50% of the Infor projects don't deliver business results, and some cause significant disruptions to the business. If you need help recovering the project by analyzing the current implementation and taking interim steps to prevent damages or pivoting strategy, we can help.
Infor Data Migration and Third-Party System Integration
We can migrate your proprietary or legacy transnational or master data and ensure that it is successfully imported into the new system. We can also help with integrating any of your proprietary systems or shop floor machines or any of the third-party apps such as CRM, HCM, or BI apps
Check our popular Infor blogs
Infor Is Strong
With These Industries
Infor products provide last-mile functionality out-of-the-box for several industries including manufacturing, industrial distribution, fashion, chemicals, hospitality, and healthcare.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is one of the strongest verticals for Infor with deep capabilities for industry verticals such as apparel, chemicals, food and beverage, automotive, and aerospace. The products such as Infor LN, Infor M3, and Infor CloudSuite Industrial target manufacturing, each with unique capabilities for specific industries.
Fashion and Apparel
Infor M3 is one of few products that are pre-integrated with apparel-centric PLM with style and PLU-centric inventory. It also supports pricing, costing, planning, and replenishment at the style and PLU levels.
Hospitality
Hospitality is another unique vertical where the ERP system needs to be integrated with the operating system to manage hotel reservations and the operational workflow of individual locations and franchises. Infor SunSystems has really strong core operational and financial functionality for the hospitality industry.
Chemicals
Chemical is another unique industry with unique inventory, quality, and traceability requirements. Infor M3 supports the majority of the processes for the Chemicals industry out-of-the-box.
Industrial Distribution
Infor really shines in the Industrial distribution space with its Infor SX.e. product. Infor SX.e is pre-integrated with several eCommerce products such as Episerver and offers strong B2B features such as procurement functionality tailored for industrial, rebates, back orders, and quotes.
Healthcare
There are very few ERP systems that are designed from the perspective of hospitals. Infor S3 supports the core financial processes of hospitals along with the unique inventory management out-of-the-box.
HVAC and Electrical Distribution
These industries require unique coding for the inventory that needs to be updated as the inventory codes get updated by their associations. There are other products in the market that can offer much deeper operational functionality out-of-the-box.
Construction
Construction requires unique operational and union reporting capabilities. While Infor products can offer vanilla functionality, they are not designed for the construction industry. There are other products in the market that can offer much deeper operational functionality for construction.
Infor Is Not as Strong
With These Industries
These are the industries where other products in the market can offer much deeper operational and last-mile functionality where Infor may not be the strongest.
Pharma and Life Sciences
Pharma and Life Sciences verticals require companies to capture NDC codes, both serial and lot numbers for the same product, and DSCSA compliance. While Infor M3 might be able to offer vanilla features for the food and beverage industry, there are other products in the market that might be deeper with these industries.
Non-Profit and Education
The non-profit and education verticals require fund and grant accounting, which requires unique capabilities natively built as part of the product. Infor products don’t have native capabilities to support the needs of non-profit and education organizations. There are other products in the market that are superior for these industries.
Architecture and Engineering Firms
The architecture and engineering firms typically overlap between manufacturing and construction. While Infor has deep capabilities for manufacturing, the construction verticals require deeper operational capabilities, which will require custom development or add-on on top of Infor products.
Non-fashion Retail
The retail companies are unique with their integration needs with the marketplaces, eCommerce platforms, PIM, CRM, and customer experience platforms. These integrations are so involved that they could turn out to be risky and expensive with Infor products.
Most Recent Questions Our Customers Asked
About Infor
An ERP stands for “Enterprise Resource Planning. ” It’s a business management suite that can integrate all business processes of a manufacturer such as production management, BOM, and MRP in one software system. Read more here.
An ERP is a management information system that helps automate your manufacturing processes such as production management, procurement, supply chain planning, and providing real-time insight across processes. Read more here.
Unlike other ERP vendors, Infor products are purpose-built for specific micro-industries. The other vendors, on the other hand, would require significant customization on top of vanilla ERP systems to get the same functionality as Infor. Also, the business users are likely to relate with Infor products a lot more as its workflows would feel natural for specific industries.
Epicor and Infor have a fairly similar strategy to commercialize their products. Epicor products are slightly more versatile and easier to use than Infor. But Infor products are slightly bigger in size and often installed with a much larger manufacturing and distribution companies.
